Sacks of ballot papers intercepted in Kano were specimens… Police

THE Kano State police command has clarified that 14 sacks of ballot papers intercepted by its operatives on Thursday were only specimens of the original ballot papers and had not been thumb printed.

Two men conveying the sacks of fake ballot papers in a truck van from Kano to Jigawa State were detained by policemen.

However, following reports on social media that 17 sacks of thumb-printed ballot papers were confiscated by the police, the spokesman of the police in Kano State, Haruna Abdullahi, addressed the media to put the records straight.

“Let me categorically state that the ballot papers are not thumb-printed and not real. They are just specimen used to enlighten voters in Jigawa state,” Abdullahi said.

He further quoted the suspects as saying that the specimen ballot papers were being taken to Dutse, the Jigawa State capital, to be used for a voter enlightenment exercise in the rural communities.

Abdullahi added, however, that aninvestigation was still ongoing, and that the case has been transferred to the state’s Criminal Investigation Department and the two suspects were being interrogated.